Monorail track support



Aug. 19, I G. c. HENDERSON 2,425,739

BIIC JNORAIIJ vTRACK SUPPORT Filed Sept. 25, 194

Snventor George C. Henderson I Gttomega Patented Aug. 19, 1947 UNITEDSTATES PATENT OFFICE MONORAIL TRACK SUPPORT George 0. Henderson,Detroit, Mich.

Application September 25, 1944, Serial No. 555,656

4 Claims. 1

This invention relates to monorail track supports and has the nature ofan improvement on structure disclosed by my Patent 1,811,270, grantedJune 23, 1931. 'Said patented structure employs a track comprising upperand lower rail-s, suited to form opposite sides of an electric circuit,and insulating plates rigidly interconnecting the rails and maintaininga spaced relation thereof. Said track is supported by posts, beingattached thereto by screws engaging the insulation.

An object of the invention is to provide for clamping a monorail trackto a support by a means greatly facilitating the assembly anddisassembly.

Another object is to engage a support with a monorail track at thejuncture of two track sections in a manner to draw such sections firmlytogether, avoiding any such gap as would detract from smooth travel of awheel or the like along the track.

Other objects are to employ a pair of arms divergently extending from apost or the like to serve as supports for a monorail track, to prvide ina simple manner for reducing divergency of the arms to clamp them infirm engagement with the track, to draw two sections of the track intotight end-to-end engagement by means of said arms, to render said armsresilient and utilize their resiliency to spread them apart whenrelieved of constraint; and to provide in a simple manner for mountingthe arms on a post or the like.

These and various other objects are attained by the constructionhereinafter described and illustrated in the accompanying drawing,where- 1n:

Fig. 1 is a front elevation of two abutting sections of a monorail trackand a post providing a support for said sections.

Fig. 2 is a side elevational view of the same.

Fig. 3 is a top plan view of the same, showing the track in section onthe line 3--3 of Fig. 1.

Figures 4 and 5 are transverse sectional views taken along lines 44 and55 respectively of Figure 3 and looking in the direction of the arrows.

In these views, the reference characters I and 2 designate a pair ofupper and lower rails formed from elongated sheet metal strips rolled orotherwise fashioned to a U cross section, and serving both as guides andelectrical conductors. Said rails are spaced rigidly apart inparallelism by insulating plates 3 and 4, which in a track of toyproportions may be inexpensively stamped from sheet fiber or the like.The rails of two abutting sections of the track straddle the upper andlower margins of the plates 3 and 4, being riveted or otherwise rigidlyfastened to the plates as indicated at 5. The plates are closelyadjacent to abutting rail ends of the two track sections, and socketsare provided between each plate and the 'U-bends of the rails spaced bysuch plate to receive electrical connectors 6. These formed preferablyby short lengths of stilf wire permanently attached to the plate 3 bysetting reversely bent corresponding ends 6a of the connectors intonotches in the upper and lower edges of said plate. The connectorsproject sufficiently beyond the plate 3 and beyond the correspondingtrack section to snugly enter between the plate 4 and rails assembledtherewith. Thus said connectors have an area of electrical contact withthe rails which they interconnect, largely exceeding actual requirementsand assuring a free flow of current.

The described track is mounted on posts I, one being shown, eachsurmounted by a pair of arms 8 projecting horizontally in an acutelydivergent relation to engage the track. It is preferred to form saidarms of a single length of stiff resilient wire bent to an acute Vshape, and to form said wire with an eyelet 9 at the juncture of thearms. This eyelet is slipped on a pin l0 formed by a reduced top portionof the post, the pin being terminally upset to hold the eyelet in place.Preferably a pair of dished washers H engage the top and bottom faces ofthe eyelet, sufficiently embracing the latter to strongly resist anysuch spreading of the armengaging ends of the eyelet as might loosen iton the post. Also the uppermost of said washers provides a surfaceagainst which the pin extremity is riveted down. The ends of the arms 8remote from the post form a pair of confronting jaws I2, preferablyreversely arcuate, and these are insertible in horizontally elongatedslots l3 in the center portions of the plates 3 and 4 to force the tracksections toward each other, in opposition to the resiliency of the arms.Such resiliency tends to spread the arms to an extent allowing theirfree entry in the slots l3. To draw the arms toward each other withconsiderable force and maintain a clamping position of the jaws, anelongated split ring or link l4 formed of stiff wire embraces both armsand is slidable lengthwise thereof. By forcing said ring outwardly, itexerts a wedging action on the acutely divergent arms, deriving apowerful clamping effect from a moderate applied force. Thus the jawsare tightly engaged with the relatively adjacent ends of the slots I3,the frictional grip of said ring on the arms holding it firmly in place.The hooked form of the jaws is such as to prevent any escape thereoffrom the plates 3 and 4 in a direction transverse to said plates. Asbest appears in Fig. 3, the arms may be formed with shallow corrugationsin their outer portions as a further assurance against slipping of thering 14 from its effective position.

The illustrated post I is formed of a cylindrical rod or heavy wireslip-fitted at its lower end into a socket member l5 rigidly upstandingfrom an elongated base plate It, which may be formed of heavy sheetmetal. To prevent scratching of any polished surface by the base platethe same may include pads ll of soft or resilient material, andpreferably these consist of stretched endless bands of rubber or thelike slipped over the ends of the plate.

Obviously a track supported in the described manner may be very quicklyset up or taken down, without the use of tools, either special orordinary, and the assembly and disassembly are Well within the skill ofchildren old enough to use such a toy. It is to be noted, however, thatuse of the described track support is not necessarily limited to toyssince tracks for industrial use may conveniently and practically employthe same type of support, particularly in cases where the installationis temporary or requires frequent assembly or disassembly.

It is aquite advantageous feature of the construction that the jaws 12are insertible in the slots I3 without necessity of tilting the posts orshifting the track up or down from its working level. It is to be notedfurthermore that the jaws leave one side of the track entirelyunobstructed so that parts of any carriage traveling on the track mayhave close proximity to such side. The resiliency of the arms 8 has autility, additional to that hereinbefore stated, in adapting the arms toact as a shock absorber, permitting a train to operate on the track morequietly than would be possible in case of a rigidly supported track,

What I claim is:

1. In a monorail track system, the combination with a track comprisingtwo sections in a substantial end to end relation, of a support for thetrack comprising a pair of jaws mounting the track on said support, saidjaws respectively engaging the respective track sections, and means forimposing a clamping force on the jaws urging them and the track sectionstoward each other.

2. In a monorail track system, the combination with two substantiallyaligned sections of track, of a pair of members for supporting the trackrespectively engaging the respective track sections, and a common meansfor attaching said members to said sections and pressing said sectionsfirmly toward each other.

3. In a monorail track system, the combination with two aligned tracksections, a support for said sections, a pair of arms carried by thesupport and projecting therefrom toward said sections at an acutedivergency and movable to vary such divergency, the ends of the armsremote from the support forming a pair of clamping jaws, and saidsections having portions interposed between said jaws, and a memberslidable on said arms for wedging them into firm engagement with theinterposed portions.

4. A monorail track system as set forth in claim 3, said track sectionsbeing apertured to receive said jaws.

GEORGE C. HENDERSON.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,575,089 Becker Mar. 2, 19261,595,283 Becker Aug. 10, 1926 1,811,270 Henderson June 23, 19311,932,501 Allman Oct. 31, 1933 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date196,863 Switzerland Aug. 12, 1937 397,904 Germany July 9, 1924

